(C) Minnesota Reformer
This story was originally published by Minnesota Reformer and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Farmfest tests candidates' agriculture bonafides • Minnesota Reformer [1]
['Madison Mcvan', 'Henry Redman', 'Max Nesterak', 'J. Patrick Coolican', 'Deena Winter', 'Kim Lyons', 'John Cole', 'More From Author', '- August', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow']
Date: 2024-08-07
MORGAN — At the big agriculture trade show here known as Farmfest, members of Congress have a key factor working in their favor as they sit next to their challengers: years of firsthand experience working on federal farm policy, which can be technical and wonky.
While some challengers appeared flustered or gave vague responses when asked about their stances on farm programs, the Minnesota incumbents serving on agriculture committees — Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad and Rep. Angie Craig — articulated their positions on topics including farm labor, government response to animal disease and the “farm safety net,” which includes crop insurance and subsidy programs.
“How would you support, and would you support, the growth and sustainability of renewable fuels?” the moderator asked the candidates, referencing Minnesota’s growing ethanol industry. Around one-third of the corn produced in the state last year was used in ethanol production.
“Renewable energy is okay. The question is, is it going to work? How’s it going to work? Who’s going to run it?” GOP-endorsed Senate candidate Royce White said. He continued by railing against China, garnering cheers from his supporters in the audience: “(Democrats) are selling you out to China every chance they get. And they’re proud of it. They brag about it. They admit it. They’re not hiding it.”
(It’s unclear what he was talking about.)
When asked the same question, the Democrat Klobuchar pointed to her bipartisan work on ethanol: securing funding for ethanol infrastructure at gas stations and pushing for the year-round sale of E15 fuel — gasoline mixed with up to 15% ethanol.
Hanging over the incumbents’ heads, however, is the lack of a Farm Bill.
The every-five-years legislation, which funds cornerstone agriculture programs like crop insurance, subsidies and government-backed farm operating loans, was supposed to be renewed last year. The version of the bill approved by the Republican-controlled House Committee on Agriculture differs in key areas from the Democratic Senate’s version; neither has come to a floor vote, and politicians are pointing fingers over who is to blame for the lack of a resolution.
During a panel of congressional candidates, Craig, Democrat of the 2nd District, and Finstad, Republican of the 1st, highlighted their work on agriculture, occasionally pointing out the policy stances where they agreed.
“Trade has been nonexistent in this administration,” said Finstad, who previously worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Trump administration. “So in the Farm Bill, we have doubled the (Market Access Program) and (Foreign Market Development) program, and we need to get to the table with new trade negotiations, new trade deals. We have to make sure agriculture is at the front of all those trade negotiations.”
Craig said she was similarly disappointed in the Biden administration’s approach to selling American agricultural products abroad — one of several criticisms she levied at Biden in front of the mostly rural, conservative audience. She pointed out that she was among the first Democratic members of Congress to ask him to step aside, and in a live radio interview after the panel, criticized his handling of the southern border.
Republican challenger Joe Teirab touted his connections to rural Minnesota and repeatedly pointed out that Craig voted against the House version of the Farm Bill in committee.
“I think the Farm Bill that came out of committee is a good bill,” Teirab said. “It’s a bill that strengthens crop insurance, strengthens the farm safety net, improves voluntary conservation programs, improves investment in our communities.”
Commodity groups and trade organizations like the American Farm Bureau Federation have called on the House to pass its version of the bill, and encouraged the Senate to take action on its end of the process.
Democrats oppose a mechanism in the House bill that would place limits on the formula that calculates benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, the food aid program formerly referred to as food stamps.
A trio of conservative groups and a liberal group also opposed the House version.
Heritage Foundation, National Taxpayers Union and Taxpayers for Common Sense, along with the Environmental Working Group, united to oppose the legislation, which they characterized as a government giveaway to favored special interests. The groups argued the legislation would spend tens of billions of dollars in subsidies that would overwhelmingly go to a relatively small number of farmers who grow certain commodity crops.
As the Senate candidates walked off the stage, a man in the back of the crowd shouted to the scattering audience:
“Amy Klobuchar supporters, your bus to the city is leaving soon!”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/08/07/farmfest-tests-candidates-agriculture-bonafides/
Published and (C) by Minnesota Reformer
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/MnReformer/
